30. Nobody likes falling
There was a part of Celia, buried very close to the surface, that took this moment as proof that she hated falling. The feeling of the wind rushing past her. The cry of it, and the image of the ground getting closer and closer. It made her blood run cold, a deep fear grabbing her and reminding her that death came for everyone.
Fortunately, she was stubborn enough to at least try and tell death no. This time, in the form of forcing her way deeper into the corpse of the wasp eagle and hoping that it would take the brunt of the impending impact. Cutting through and deeper into it’s surprisingly soft flesh like a parasite finding a new host. Which painfully reminded her of her own parasite.
She wasn’t sure if it was even alive anymore.
But that was something to find out later. Her stolen ride was spinning now. Body going in a dreadful circle, head falling then rising then falling again and taking her along with it. A nauseating cycle that would’ve made her throw up were it not for the continually brief moments of perspective it gave her.
Like a front row seat to the tree they were about to hit in the next few seconds. A very spiky, very violent looking pine tree. It’s limbs ending in a fan of leaves shaped like hands. Bark growing pustules of red eyes that stared out at the world beyond. And the sound of its moving "leaves" was more akin to the screams of torture victims than anything else. And as terrifying as it was, Celia hardly paid it a moment of her attention. She was too busy accidentally ripping deeper into the wasp in a desperate attempt to grab onto some part of it and brace herself.
And in the process barely missing being skewered as a spear of reddish brown wood erupted through the bottom of the now very dead wasp. The brunt of it missing her by just a scant few inches. The sudden collision of it all, however, shook both her, her ride, and the tree. Which bent in one direction before promptly going in the opposite. The sudden shift in direction, combined with its speed threw Celia against the inner wall of the wasp. And her sharpness wrapped body tore through that wall like a knife through butter.
Which, in no more than a half second, resulted with Celia finding herself breathing fresh air again. Sunlight splashing onto her face as the rest of her followed. Or at least, her upper half followed. Whereas the rest of her was… stuck.
The reason why was very, very simple.
Her hips were too wide, and the metallic aura of sharpness that had covered them earlier had receded. Which was possibly the most embarrassing thing Celia had ever experienced. Though, embarrassment was pretty far from her mind. She was far too busy cutting herself free for that. Hacking away at Chitin and, we, well she supposed, "Bug meat" to care for that.
Which was precisely when she realized she had made another mistake. That being, gravity. And before Celia could rectify her error, she was already falling, smacking into the branches below. Very creepy branches that tried to grab at her with green fingers as she fell past and through them.
The collection of limbs however, failed to hold her despite their efforts. Either because she was falling too fast, or because she was just too heavy, though, was up for debate. Though, she leaned towards the former. If only because it made her feel better about herself.
But feeling good about herself wasn’t of much use when she finally hit the ground. Landing face down into the dirt below. Where she stayed a moment, before looking back up at the monstrous wasp she had rode down.
Just in time to watch as all the tree's limbs descended. Each and every one congregated on the wasp in an instant. Hands of leaf and wood falling on it like a pack wolves. Grasping and gripping. Pulling and parting chitin and endo-skeleton alike. Till, after a solid minute of attacking, the giant wasp eagle was nothing more than yellow green stain atop the tree’s crown.
A tree that immediately turned its attention back to its her. It’s escaped prey. It’s escaped, conveniently in arms reach, prey. Celia got moving. Pushing herself to her feet with athletic ease. Athletic ease held back by the growing wagon behind her. She felt herself vibrate. A chunky motion that rippled from her feet, past her thighs, and straight into her butt.
It created an instant feedback loop. Kick, ripple, back, and repeat. But the minutiae of the motion was secondary to what it accomplished. Namely getting her further away from the tree. A tree that was reaching out for her. A mix of gangly and thick wooden limbs. Each swooping out, fingers curling, brushing against her, uncomfortably close to finding purchase on her. But Celia was a machine now. Her only focus on getting away as soon as possible. The muddy terrain an after thought. The cry of battle above background noise.
There was only forward, forward, and forward.
Up until she couldn’t. All momentum coming to a halt as a pair of wooden fingers grasped a handful of her hair. Its grip iron strong. And then it started to pull. Slowly, more hands joining in as it did so. Leaving Celia with no choice. She reacted on instinct, backing up every time it felt like there were close to ripping the hairs out of her head. Which pissed her off just thinking about.
She knew that it definitely wasn’t her original hair. Couldn’t be. But the principal still stood. Just like violence did. And it was violence that she retaliated.
Shoulder tendril lashing out with all the speed of a lightning bolt. Alien limbs cutting through the gang of branches with ease. It was like a forked blade. The main tendril and it’s offshoot working in tandem. A double cut that showered the ground in falling leaves and wood chips. But Celia didn’t stop there.
She turned. Face a snarl. The determination to make the tree pay rising up within her like steam from a forge. There was a part of her that was angry. More than offended that the tree had hurt. Incensed that it had grabbed her hair. And determined to render into the same pain and worse. A wild rage further tempered by the sudden reminder that bark was edible. Rousing her gluttony to the surface and making her see a bit more than red.
But the tree was a multi-limbed giant. Rising into the sky like a dark spire. Branches of various sizes draping off its form like a twisted constellation. Growing even as she looked at it. Making it bigger and more imposing, as if it were a giant waking up for the first time in years. Spreading its arms wide as if to embrace the challenge.
One Celia had no plan to deny.
But things often never went to plan.
This time was no different. As, upon growing a set of teeth along her extremities, and extending her tongue out like a dog, something fell from the sky.
Something small, pink, and explosively fast.
Dreg hit the ground like a meteor. Impact creating a shockwave that threw her into her back. A crater blossoming out beneath him. Dirt and debris launched in every direction. The tree that had been in the ark of his trajectory left a wreck of wood from the top down. Whatever life that had animated it before gone in an instant.
And Dreg himself was hardly any better. His descent through the sky hadn’t come without cost. And this time the cost was more than half his body. Arm and legs gone along with a third of his torso. Leaving him as little more than a shred of vaguely humanoid shaped flesh on the ground. A regenerating shred of flesh, that is.
One Celia watched with a mix of grotesque fascination and a bit of spite.
She’d actually been looking forward to that fight.
"Your welcome. Now help up, please. We need move fast."
Celia ignored him. Stepping over the diminutive imp of a Beyondling and over to the destroyed wreckage of a tree. She started eating. Grabbing and tearing at the bark. Shoving it into her mouth. Almost cooing at the sensation of filling herself up. A primal part of her brain igniting with pure euphoria.
"Not hear, we need move!" Dreg called out from behind her. A note of genuine distress in his voice.
But Celia almost didn’t care. The bark tasted way better than she expected. Like some sort of perfect mixture between honey and syrup. It tasted too good to stop. But eventually, she did. Right as she hit that perfect amount.
Modification gained!
The camouflage horrific
She didn’t even wait to equip it.